U-M employees, retirees and students can complete a short anonymous and confidential online survey about the university’s plans to establish an exclusive pouring rights agreement with a beverage company.
The companies under consideration to provide beverage service to U-M under the agreement are:
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- Coca-Cola
- Keurig Dr Pepper
- Pepsi
- Red Bull
Each company offers a wide selection of beverage choices, ranging from sodas and energy drinks to bottled water and teas. The agreement would cover UM-Ann Arbor, UM-Flint, UM-Dearborn, and Michigan Medicine.
The survey is open until Nov. 10, 2025.
In addition to completing the survey, members of the U-M community will be able to participate in a virtual town hall that will include representatives from the beverage companies as well as U-M’s interim Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Bobby Hewlett and Assistant Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer Tally Thrasher.
Details for the virtual town hall will be announced in the coming weeks. The online survey includes an option for respondents to submit questions they’d like to have answered at the town hall by U-M administrators or representatives from the beverage companies.
The process to select an exclusive supplier for pouring rights began in May with the release of an RFP. Initial bids were received from beverage companies and scored by an evaluation committee composed of representatives from UM-Ann Arbor, UM-Dearborn, UM-Flint, and Michigan Medicine.
The committee evaluated the bids based on a variety of criteria, including, among other things, the financial component, sustainability, support of the U-M community, and beverage selection.
While institution-wide, exclusive pouring rights agreements are common at similarly-sized universities around the country, U-M does not currently have such an agreement in place. In the Big Ten, for example, at least 13 of the conference’s 18 members, including Indiana, Ohio State and Penn State, currently have pouring rights agreements in place.
Visit the Procurement Services website for more information on pouring rights, including an FAQ.
Jorge Iniguez-Lluhi
I disagree with the move to have pouring rights assigned to a single company.
This eliminates competition and promotes a monopoly system. This disincentivizes entry of new players and limits choices.
The purported efficiency gains do not justify the limitations imposed.
Nick Pfost
There are questions in the survey that specifically ask whether you strongly support or oppose a single vendor servicing all of campus—definitely let them know there.